Pow R Ball

This is a discussion on Pow R Ball within the Defensive Ammunition & Ballistics forums, part of the Defensive Carry Discussions category; Does anyone here use pow r ball, and I do not mean in a weapon that can not feed hollow points well either.
I know ...

At SHOT a few years back I was told it was originally intended to be a cheaper version of the Glaser Blue or Silver to be used for inexpensive practice. That it could be used as a JHP that wouldn't clog with clothing was only thought about later.

PowRball was originally designed back in the mid 90's. 1911's were shrinking in size and they weren't feeding our wide mouthed hollow points very well. Glock had come out with the G 30 and it wouldn't feed our wide mouthed hollow points well either. We decided to try to alleviate the feedway problem by building a JHP that has a round polymer ball in it to give the ammunition the feed profile of hardball. When we tested it in 10% ballistic gelatin, we were surprised to see enhanced performance over our lightweight JHP loads. Our JHP's are moving very fast and wouldn't penetrate as deep as some might like. PowRball (the original bullet was in 45 auto) penetrated 14" and recovered diameter were .75" in our test medium (ballistic gelatin).

It was never developed as a less expensive load to practice for Glaser's.

We have never had a bad AAR on any of the PowRball calibers. The most that we've received are in 45 auto and are very impressive to say the least. Next is 9mm and they are also very impressive. I personally wouldn't feel bad at all about having PowRball in my carry gun. I have tested it so much and gotten so much positive feedback on it that I would be very confident with it in any caliber.

I carry speer gold dot in all my large caliber automatic guns. I usually carry hornady critical defense in my 357. I do carry Pow R Ball in my 380 caliber guns and would also carry it in a 9mm but I do not own one. The reason why I love it in the smaller caliber rounds is because of the extra penetration through layered clothing. It has always fed good for me and it shows promising results in my own personal testing. Also, my wife is my world and I load her daily carry gun with Pow R Ball. Just saying.

I'm hoping that the PowrRBalls work in my 1911, I've had problems feeding Gold Dots, PDX 1, Golden Sabers, Hydra Shocks, and the Win white box hollow points. I'm really hoping these things will do the trick as it feeds FMJs without a problem. Now I just gotta find a place that sells them.

I'm hoping that the PowrRBalls work in my 1911, I've had problems feeding Gold Dots, PDX 1, Golden Sabers, Hydra Shocks, and the Win white box hollow points. I'm really hoping these things will do the trick as it feeds FMJs without a problem. Now I just gotta find a place that sells them.

If you're having feed problems in a 1911 do yourself a favor and get either Wilson 47D mags or Tripp Cobra mags. Those will eliminate any FTFeed in 1911 that is within spec.

I just picked-up a box (yes just one box) at my local gun store for a 9mm. The box claims 1475 fps Energy 483ft/lbs. I have had zero feed issues with my SA but was offered a box for practically free (about 1/3 of sticker price) so I grabbed it. So with only 20 rounds to play with I may go zombie melon and milk jug hunting later if it cools off any outside.

I bought a box of 9mm 100gr to try. I like the FPS numbers, but I didn't like that they wouldn't consistently. knock down steel at the range. I know it's probably not really a fair evaluation, but I carry 124gr +P Speer Gold Dot now.

For 9mm I like 124 gr +P rounds I.e Golden Sabres or HST. I was carrying the Pow R Balls in my Sig P238 until I found Buffalo Bore, specifically the 100 gr +P hardcast. For a .380 round the BB is pretty impressive from some of the tests I have seen and it feeds perfectly in my Sig.